A Devon heritage steam railway has been fined £40,000 after allowing a three-year-old boy to get into the toilet compartment of a moving train where the floor had been removed.

It has also been ordered to pay £13,205 in court costs and a £170 victim surcharge.

Jay Lloyd was left dangling over the rails and moving wheels of the South Devon Railway steam train when he opened a toilet door.

Newton Abbot Magistrates Court yesterday heard his head was just inches from the ground when he was rescued by his mum Anna Patch.

Even after the incident the railway continued to use the carriage - which had been in that state for three months - for another three days.

The toilet floor had been removed to fix the brakes on the train and the door was meant to be screwed shut - but the toddler was able to open it on his own as the train travelled between Staverton and Buckfastleigh last June.

Hole in toilet floor on South Devon Railways train

Chloe Barton, prosecuting for the Office of Rail and Road told the court: "The risk could have resulted in serious injury or death."

The charity pleaded guilty to one charge of failing in its duty to ensure people in its employment and passengers on coach W4805 were not exposed to risks to their safety.

Chief of inspectors for heritage rail Ian Skinner said: "This sends out a powerful message to South Devon Railway Trust and other heritage lines that they need to understand the risks they are trying to control."

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A South Devon Railway Trust spokesman said: “First of all, we have once again offered our sincere apologies to Ms Anna Patch, her son and family for what occurred during their trip on the SDR on 22 June 2017.

“The South Devon Railway Trust fully acknowledges the shortcomings which occurred, and entered a guilty plea to the charges brought against the railway by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).

“Despite the SDR’s good health and safety record, we accept that we did not meet health and safety standards in this case, and put our customers at risk.

“The SDR takes the safety of its customers and staff very seriously, and has put every effort into making improvements to its systems, including a new Safety Management System, to ensure that this incident could not happen again.

“This includes complying with the requests of the ORR, and going further to put in place new infrastructure to modernise our approach to carriage maintenance.

“The SDR accepts and regrets that improvement was needed at the time of the incident - hopefully it can be seen that the Trust has reacted appropriately and seriously in the circumstances.

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“Whilst the fine we received is a significant one, we have been making contingency plans for it and also have a helpful period of time in which to pay. As a result, the SDR will continue to operate our popular heritage steam trains and services as normal.”

The charity has one month to pay the first £15,000.

The prosecution follows a seperate thorough investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

The RAIB found the toilet cubicle floor on the steam train had been missing for about three months before Jay nearly fell through it.

And the report says that had the mother not grabbed her child as he fell, he is likely to have been seriously injured and possibly killed.

The incident happened when the train was travelling at 20mph.

The report of the accident reveals that the carriage had been in service with no toilet floor for three months before the accident, the toilet door was not secure, no-one detected that the door had become unsecure before the accident, and that train crew were unaware of the situation.

Hole in toilet floor on South Devon Railways train

Outlining what happened, the report says: “At 1.15pm on Thursday, June 22, 2017, a mother and her three-year-old child were travelling on a South Devon Railway train from Totnes (Riverside) to Buckfastleigh.

“Shortly after leaving Staverton station, while the train was travelling at about 20 mph (32 km/h), the child left his seat and went towards a toilet on the train, followed by his mother walking a short distance behind.

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“The child entered the toilet, and as the door opened and the child stepped through it, he fell forward because the floor was missing in the compartment he had entered.

“A more serious accident was only prevented by the quick reaction of the mother who grabbed the child’s arm and prevented him falling through the opening and onto the track below.

“The child suffered minor bruising, and both mother and child were shocked. The accident was reported immediately to the railway company, but the Rail Accident Investigation Branch was not advised of what had happened until June 25.

“Had the mother not grabbed her child as he fell, he is likely to have been seriously injured and possibly killed.”

The RAIB have now published their report of the accident and have said that South Devon Railway’s safety management system should be independently reviewed and any changes identified as necessary should be implemented, and this recommendation may also apply to other heritage railways.

The report says: “Both of the toilet cubicles at the end of the carriage that the mother and child were travelling in had previously been put out of use by the railway company, because the toilet floor in one and the sink in the other had been removed. Both toilet doors had ‘out of use’ notices fixed to them, and had been secured with screws through the frame and the door.

“Before the mother, who had seen the warning signs, could warn her child that the toilet he was about to enter was out of use, the child went into the toilet cubicle.

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“Although the toilet cubicle door was supposed to have been secured, the child was able to enter the cubicle (it is not known whether he used the door knob or simply pushed the door). The door of the toilet cubicle opened inwards. The mother stated that the child fell forward towards the track, breaking his fall on the brake pipe. The mother reacted quickly and grabbed the child’s arm, preventing him from falling onto the track.

“The mother reported the accident to the guard and travelling ticket inspector (TTI), both of whom had been unaware that the toilet floor was missing. The guard then instructed the TTI to stop any further access to the toilet cubicle until the train reached Buckfastleigh.”

The report says that the child was able to open the door of a toilet cubicle that had no floor and that the Carriage 4805 had been in service since April 2017 with no toilet floor.

This occurred because Carriage 4805 was in service with no toilet floor, the toilet door was not secure and no-one detected that the door had become unsecure before the accident.

The report said the door had been secured with a screw but that had fallen out when the boy opened the door, and a sign saying "out of use" had been placed on the toilet door.

It added that no-one detected that the door had become unsecured before the accident, because train crew were unaware of the situation.

The report also adds that the risk associated with the absence of the floor was not sufficiently appreciated or adequately managed and the SDR competence management process for staff involved in the carriage maintenance and train preparation was inadequate.

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Since the accident, the South Devon Railway has developed a new safety management system and in accordance with this, it has introduced a competence assessment process, the leadership and management reporting lines for carriage and workshop staff have been clarified, the risk assessment policy for defects and decision-making has been recirculated and a new carriage shed has been built to protect the rolling stock.

At the time, a SDR spokesman said: “The South Devon Railway takes this incident extremely seriously in which safety on a moving train was badly compromised and that could have resulted in serious injury to a female passenger and her young son.

“We regret this incident took place and wish to apologise to the lady and family involved for the trauma which they suffered.”